SECURITY LAB

Working to bridge the gap between technologists, information security community and democracy activists by promoting intuitive and accessible security tool and education.

Through storytelling, we continue to raise awareness on the human rights implications of the lack of security and privacy protections in consumer technology.

Photo: Anuradha Sengupta via Flickr

The same technology that has empowered millions of people to demand political and social change is being used by oppressive regimes worldwide to surveil and suppress dissent. 533DZ Foundation, through workshops and seminars on cyber security, empowers human rights activists and journalists around the world to protect their communities while creating positive social change.

WE PARTNER WITH THE BEST ORGANIZATIONS TO BRING ONLINE SECURITY TRAINING TO THOSE WHO NEEDS IT MOST

Tech Lab for Human Rights Activists & Journalists

Oslo Freedom Forum, Norway

533DZ Foundation advise human rights activists & reporters from all over the world on how to defend their communications and sensitive data against state surveillance & criminal attacks.

An Unlikely Alliance: Hackers & Human Rights Activists

Photo Credit: cea + via Flickr

Liberation Technology Program, Stanford

Activists and hackers share a common mission of challenging the status quo to improve existing systems – whether governments or technology. How do the two communities work together to defend civil liberties online and on the ground?

Workshop "Communicating in Hostile Environments"

8th Assembly of the World Movement for Democracy, Seoul

533DZ Foundation team trained human rights activists and journalists from how to develop defense strategies against hostile surveillance and criminal breaches.

HUMAN RIGHTS VOICES

STORIES OF ACTIVISTS ENDANGERING THEIR LIVES TO ADVANCE HUMAN RIGHTS THROUGH CREATIVITY, POLITICAL WIT, AND TECHNOLOGY

MARINA NEMAT

Iranian Activist & Writer

Nico Sell interviews Marina Nemat, a human rights activist and writer, on her experience as a prisoner of conscience in Iran and how it empowered her to become an advocate for political prisoners and activists around the world.

Marina also talks about the importance of technology and digital security in enabling social change in oppressive countries.

BJØRN IHLER

Survivor, Activist & Writer

Nico Sell interviews Bjørn Ihler, activist and writer, about his experience as a survivor of 2011 terrorist attack in Oslo killing over 60 people and injuring over 100 more.

Bjørn shares how the violence he witnessed has empowered him to begin his work across communities to prevent extremism and counter its narrative in all forms, including digital and art.

WHAT IS THE TECH COMMUNITY MISSING ABOUT HUMAN RIGHTS AND TECHNOLOGY?

Nico Sell interviewed Danny O’Brien, International Director of Electronic Frontier Foundation, on privacy and the effects of surveillance on our behavior, free speech, and self-censorship. Danny shared his experience working activists in understanding and countering the surveillance technology.

On Surveillance

On EFF's Work Activists

SULEIMAN BAKHIT

Jordanian Social Entrepreneur & Activist

Suleiman Bakhit is a Jordanian best-selling comic book creator. Bakhit is the CEO of Aranim Media Factory, which sold 1.2 million comics in 2010. He is also the founder of the Hero-Factor project, an organization dedicated to promoting heroism as an antidote to extremism for Middle Eastern youth.

Bakhit focuses his work on the development of stories, myths, and heroes that promote tolerance and counter a culture of extremism and discrimination against women and girls. Bakhit was motivated to create his company after experiencing discrimination in the U.S. after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Bakhit is a TED Global Fellow.

JI SEONG-HO

North Korean Defector & Activist

Ji Seong-ho is a North Korean defector who grew up during the country’s grueling famine in the 1990s. In order to survive, Ji would exchange stolen coal for food on the black market. While taking coal from a train car in 1996, a malnourished Ji lost consciousness and fell onto the tracks, losing his left hand and foot when a train ran over him.

After a grueling amputation surgery, Ji was left to fend for himself. In 2006, he escaped to South Korea, where he is now a law student at Dongguk University. Ji is also the president of Now Action and Unity for Human Rights, where he helps broadcast information into North Korea and facilitates the resettlement of defectors in South Korea.

SRDJA POPOVIC

Activist & Advocate of Non-Violent Resistance

Srdja Popovic, one of the leaders of the student movement Otpor! that helped topple Slobodan Milosevic’s dictatorship, sits down with 533DZ Foundation CEO Nico Sell to discuss Serbian political resistance, the importance of secure communications to human rights activists, and how to pronounce a name with four consonants and just one vowel.

Foreign Policy Magazine listed Srdja Popovic as one of the “Top 100 Global Thinkers” of 2011 for inspiring the Arab Spring protesters directly and indirectly and educating activists about nonviolent social change in the Middle East and in 2012 was nominated for Nobel Peace Prize.

IYAD EL BAGHDADI

Writer & Political Activist

Iyad el-Baghdadi is a Palestinian writer based in the United Arab Emirates who rose to prominence following his diligent reporting of the Arab Spring uprisings and their aftermath. His Twitter accounthas consistently been ranked as one of the most important social media accounts in the Middle East. El-Baghdadi is known for his satirical work, “The Arab Tyrant’s Manual,” which humorously highlights how embattled leaders in the Middle East and North Africa responded to the 2011 uprisings. He is currently working on “The Arab Spring Manifesto,” a project that will provide a detailed account of his vision for an Islamic libertarianism.

Palestinian writer and activist Iyad el-Baghdadi delivered an eloquent rallying cryfor the “Arab Spring Generation” at the 2014 Oslo Freedom Forum. El-Baghdadi explained how a generation struggling for freedom found its voice in the Arab Spring, only to fail to produce tangible results. The Arab Spring, el-Baghdadi argued, had no manifesto, no ideology, no plan—and was defeated when it came up against highly organized tyrants. El-Baghdadi emphasized the need for a new generation of organized intellectuals and thinkers—not just protestors—if the Arab Spring is to succeed.